Marking machine



March 11, 1941-.l F. w. RExNHoLD Erm. 2,234,277

MARKING MACHINE Filed June 3. 1958 @MM f Patented Mar. 11, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE lJARKING MACHINE Application June 3, 1938, Serial No. 211,505

9 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in marking heads and more particularly to marking heads which are adapted to make plural lines of marking wherein one of the lines of marking is made by characters on marking wheels or like type carrying members mounted on the head, and the other line or lines are made by auxiliary type members positioned adjacent to the marking Wheels.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved type unit for use in a marking head and also to provide an improved mounting for said type unit. To this end, and as illustrated herein, a feature of this invention consists in the provision, in a marking head having type wheels rotatably mounted thereon, of type units of approximately the width of the type wheels, each type unit comprising a plurality of intertting members with marking characters thereon so arranged that the marking characters will be in alinement with and in line spaced relation to one another and to a marking wheel character which is in marking position. Also provided in the marking head is a pivoted bar for supporting the auxiliary type units, the bar being so arranged that when it is in one of its positions of adjustment it` holds the type units in intimate co-operative relation with the marking wheels and when the bar is moved to another position, it will move the type units away from the marking wheels thereby allowing the marking wheels to be reset and the type units to be removed and changed at the will of the operator.

The expression line spaced relation as used herein indicates the space between. successive lines of marking.

The above and other objects of the invention will appear more fully from the following detailed description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing and will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 discloses a perspective View of a marking head with the improvements embodied therein;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the marking head shown in Fig. 1 showing the intertting relation of the members which constitute the type unit and the manner in which they are associated with the type wheel;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary View of the marking head showing the mechanism for shifting the support bar and also the detent mechanism for .positioning the shifting mechanism;

Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the members which comprise the marking unit, and

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan View showing the'relative positions of the row of type formed by the vmarking head and those formed by the auxiliary members which comprise the type unit.

The marking head disclosed in this application may be applied to different types of marking machines, such, for example, as .that disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 960,029, granted May 31, 1910, upon an application of Frank W. Merritt. The illustrated marking head is secured to the operating mechanism of the desired machine by means of cap screws passing through apertures lil and l2 in the top plate ifi which forms a part of the marking head f frame. The plate I4 is provided with a pair of downwardly extending side pieces vIii and I8 in which is mounted a type wheel support 20. 'Rotatably mounted on the type wheel support are a number of type wheels 22, which are provided with raised characters 'ift and are separated by washers 23, four type wheels being shown by Way of example. Mounted above `the support is a type wheel shifting mechanism 26 which ,p

is arranged to move the type wheels' in either direction for resetting purposes. The type wheel support is provided with a heating element 28 for heating the marking characters on the marking head and spring urged detent balls 30 for holding the type wheels in their adjusted positions. The construction so far described is fully shown in the United States Letters Patent No. 1,968,900, granted August 7, 1934, on application of W. E. Naugler to which reference may be had for a. more detailed description of the same.

lExtending outwardly from the lower ends of the downwardly extending side pieces I6, I8, are arms 32 and 341 in which is pivotally mounted a type supporting bar 36. The type supporting bar vis provided with square portions` separated by a series of anges 33 disposed `in alinement with the spacing washers 23 on the support A2li for the purpose of alining the typeunits which provide the marking head with additional lines of marking with the type wheels. The type units will be described in detail further on in the specication. The bar 36 is rotated by a crank 31 fast to one end thereof (Fig. 1) ,the arrangement being such that when the crank is in the, `position -shoWn in Fig. l, where it is in engagement with a lug 40 formed on an extension 35 of the arm 32, the type units carried by the bar Sii are heldin engagement with the type wheelsl inthe manner shown in Fig. 2. Uponmovement of the crank 3l a short distance in a counter- '64 and 66 respectively (Figs.-2 and 5).

clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1, the type units will be moved out of the path of raised type characters 24 on the type wheels 22 thereby allowing the type wheels to be reset by the setting mechanism 26. Upon further movement in a counterclockwise direction the crank will be brought into engagement with a second lug 42 on the extension 35, in which position the type units will be moved far enough away from the type wheels so that they may be readily removed from the bar 36 and changed to suit a new marking requirement. The crank is retained in the position shown in Fig. 1 by a pin 44 which engages one side of the crank head and holds the head between it and the lug 40. The pin 44 is carried by an offset portion of the extension 35 (Fig. 3) which overlies the crank 31, the pin 44 being urged downwardly into engagement with thev crank head (Figs. 1 and 3) by a spring`46contained within the offset portion of the extension. 'I'he crank is held in its intermediate position, where the type units are just clear` of the type characters 24, by a detent pin 48 carried by the crank head 39, the detent pin 48 being seated in a correspondingly located notch 50 (Fig. 3) in the 'extension 35, the pin 48 being urged into this notch by a spring 52 contained within the crank head 39. 'Ihe crank is held in engagement with the lug 42 by the unbalanced arrangement oi" the crank 31 and the type units carried thereby which force the crank against the lug 42.

.In marking operations, it is frequently desirable to provide two, three or more lines of marking. In'the illustrated mechanism the lines of marking, additional to that provided by the wheels 22, are provided by rows of type units 54 which are of substantially the same width as the nrarkin'g wheels 22 and are mounted on the bar 36 between adjacent flanges 38.

shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the units 54 consists of As best ther result'of this connection is that relative lateral movement of the members 54 and 56 is prevented and the members are held in alinement with one another. The ends of the members 56 rand 58 adjacent to the type wheels 24 are nested in overlapping relation and their unde surfaces are provided with marking characters The end of the member 58 opposite its marking character 66 is provided with a shoulder 68 shaped to fit into a notch between successive raised char.-

acters 24 on the marking wheel 22 so that when the members 56 and 56 are in the position shown in Fig. 2, their type characters will b-esupported by the marking wheel22 and the shoulder 68 will also act as a locking means to hold the wheel 22 against rotation. The. marking charactervon the member 56 is supported against marking pressure by shoulders 'I0 and I2 (Fig. 4) on the member 58, which are disposed above, and in supporting relation to the character 64. In the illustrated embodiment of this invention, a fin 14 of a material having la high heat conductivity, such as copper, and of approximately the same width as the spacing washers 23, is connected to the member 56. When the unit 54 is moved into the position shown in Fig. 2 the fin 14 will fit between adjacent type wheels thus providing a ready path for the transmission of heat from the heating unit 28 and the heated type wheels 22 to the auxiliary type members 56 and 58. The fin 14 also acts to support the member 56 against sidewise movement with respect to the type wheels and as the members 56 and 58 are 'keyed together by their connections 66 and 62,

the fin 'I4 will also hold the member 56 against sidewise movement. As the members 56 and 58 will receive considerable heat, their ends, which are to be handled by the operator, are preferably provided with handles 16, 18 of a heat resisting material, such as Bakelite or the like.

While the auxiliary type units disclosed herein consist of two members, the number could obviously be increased by changing the proportions of the intertting connections in the midsections of these members' which fit over the bar 36.

rWhen it is desired to set up the illustrated marking head for a marking operation the crank 31 is moved into engagement with the lug 42, thus moving the marking unitsv carried by the bar 36 out of engagement with the type wheels 22. The type Wheels are then reset by the setting mechanism 26 to provide the desired line of marking and the additional lines of marking are made up by a suitable combination of the type units 54, pairs of which are assembled and then positioned on the bar 36, after which the bar is rotated to bring the type units into the position shown in Fig. 2 where they are in intimate'V contact with the type wheels 22. When so located the characters on the type units are in line spaced relation to each other and to the character on the type wheel which is in marking position, and the type characters are also in alinement with each other as shown in Fig. 5. If only one additional line of marking is needed, then the members 56 may be eliminated and the additional line provided by the members 58.

Having thus described my invention, what claim as new and desire to lsecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A marking head comprising a frame, type wheels rotatably mounted on said frame, said wheels having marking characters thereon thereby providing a line of marking characters, and auxiliary type units supported in cooperative relation with the type Wheels, each of said units being of substantially the same width as one of the type wheels and comprising a plurality of Y nested members having marking'v characters thereon disposed in line spaced relation vto one another and to the row of characters onv the marking wheels whereby additional lines of marking are provided. 2. A marking head comprising a frame, a pair of spaced supports on said frame, a Vtype wheel rotatably mounted on one of said supports, va type unit mounted on the other support ,withv one end arranged in supporting relation with the type wheel whereby it is supported against marking pressure, said 4type unit comprising a plurality of superimposed intertting members individually connected with the type unit support,each of said members having a marking characterhon Vits end adjacent to the type wheel, the marking characters on said members being disposed in the plane of the-wheel character in marking position and in radial alinement with Vthe wheel' thereby providing a plurality of alined marking characters in spaced relation to one another.

3. A marking head comprising a frame, type wheels provided with raised type characters rotatably mounted on said frame, a type supporting bar journaled in said frame for positioning additional type pieces in associated relation with the type characters on the type wheels, said bar having type receiving portions of non-circular cross section, a type piece mounted on said bar, the type piece having a recess therein shaped complementally to the type receiving portion of the pivoted bar for locking engagement therewith and also having a projecting portion constructed and arranged to t between adg'acent raised characters on a type Wheel thereby to lock a selected character on the type Wheel in marking position and also to supporlt the typle piece against marking pressure, and means for rotating the journaled bar to move the type piece out of engagement with the type Wheel to permit the type wheel to be reset and the type piece to be changed.

4. A type unit for use in a marking head provided With a type disk, said type unit being of approximately the Width of the type disk and comprising a pair of elongated nested members, each of said members being provided with a marking character at an adjacent end, the ends of said members having the marking characters thereon being arranged in overlapping relation With the marking characters in alinement with one another and in line spaced relation.

5. A type unit for use in a marking head provided With a plurality of heated marking Wheels, said uni-t comprising a pair of elongated intertting members, each of said members having a marking character thereon, and a projecting fin of high heat conductivity extending from one of said members and arranged for engagement With a marking Wheel thereby to support the members against sidewise movement and to assist in maintaining the marking characters on the members at the same temperature as the characters on the marking wheels by providing a path for the ready transfer of heat from the wheels to the members.

6. A type unit for use in a marking head provided with a plurality of heated marking Wheels, said unit being of substantially the same Width as one of the marking wheels and comprising a pair of elongated intertting members having marking characters thereon disposed in line spaced relation to one another, one of said members having a recess therein and the other member having a complementally shaped extension seated in said recess thereb-y preventing relative lateral movement of said members, and a ange of high heat conductivity extending from one of said members for engagement with adjacent marking Wheels thereby to support the members against sidewise movement and to assist in maintaining ethe marking characters on the members at the same temperature as the characters on the marking wheels by providing a path for the ready transfer of heat from the Wheels to the members.

7. A type member for use in a marking head comprising a plurality of heated type Wheels and mea-ns for supporting type members in cooperative relation with the heated type Wheels, said type member having a iin of high heat conductivity arranged for engagement With one of the heated type Wheels Ito hold the type member against sidewise movement and to assist in maintaining the marking character on the type member at the same temperature as the marking characters on the type Wheel by providing a path for the ready transfer of heat from the heated Wheel to the type member.

8. A marking head comprising a, frame, a support for one line of type on said frame, and a bar pivoted on said frame for rotation about its axis, Ithe bar being arranged to support a second line of type in associated relation with the line of Itype on the support, said bar having a plurality of type receiving portions of non-circular cross section and anges separating the type receiving portions of said bar.

9. A type unit for use in a marking head having a type piece mounted thereon, said type unit being of approximately the Width of the type piece on the marking head and comprising a, pair of elongated nested members each of which is provided with a marking character at an adjacent end, and complemen-tally shaped abutting surfaces on the members adjacent to Ithe marking characters, said marking characters being located in alignment with each other and n line spaced relation.

FRANK W. REINHOLD. CHARLES E. EDWARDS. 

